What? What's this? Another update? I was just much to excited about this to not get it out. I know, I know breaking my own rules again - but what are rules if they aren't mean to be broken?

I'm mainly getting this out so I don't have the urge to change it again. This chapter is probably my favourite cause we finally get to meet our baby! 3 Which brings me to my next point, it's the end. And I'm super sad to say goodbye to this universe. That's not to say I won't bring them back, but I at the moment have too many other ideas to keep going. So following this chapter, there will be an epilogue that will hopefully tie things together nicely.

So as with all of my last chapters, I have to give a few thanks.
Firstly, to my twitter posse for letting me through this story. Especially Sara, for all her endless tweets, texts and emails. I'm pretty sure we got pretty personal on some levels with this one.

Secondly and lastly, YOU! Yes, you. Thank you for taking the time to read, favourite, follow and review this here story. It meant the world to me, and without any of this I wouldn't have been able to finish. I appreciate each and every one. And I hope you enjoy the rest.

But alas, we're at the end and I still don't own anyone affiliated with glee. I do, however, own Camden, Alice and any other original character. So thank you, once more, and enjoy!

Chapter 11
April 2028

He thought he was prepared. They had a plan in place. When they had finished with the birthing classes, they had made a plan. One that was fool proof, that wouldn't leave her alone for long. She was supposed to just go into labor and he was supposed to be there to hold her hand every single step of the way. From the first contraction to the last.
So when his cell phone rang in his pocket just as he was dismissing his class for lunch, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Rach?" he stepped into the supply closet on the third ring, just as the lunch monitors had entered his classroom.

Heavy breathing met his ears for a moment and he could feel his heart speed up. "Rach?"

"Finn..." she stammered. "I...the contractions have started and..."

"How far apart? Are you in pain?" his words were flying out of his mouth quickly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Rach?"

She sucked in a breath and he could hear the shake in her voice. "They're about 8 minutes apart. But they're coming regularly now and I'm starting to feel them...can you..."

"I'm on my way babe. I'm leaving the school right now and I'll call Deanna to pick up Camden just like we planned and...I'm on my way to you baby. Right now, hold tight."

She gave him a soft okay before clicking end on the phone call. Finn had never flown out of the school so fast. He would've forgotten to tell anyone where he was going if he hadn't run into his principal on the way out. He needed to get to Rachel. This was already not going how they had planned.

She had been feeling the contractions for a couple hours now, three at most. They first started as little twinges that she could tolerate. In that time she'd finished washing Alice's clothes that they had received at the baby shower last weekend, had loaded the dishwasher and collected the rest of their laundry into one central pile so Finn could take it downstairs for her later. But as the hours had trickled by they had started coming more consistently, and while they were still bearable, the first one that had caused her to cringe had sent her running for the phone. She wanted Finn. She needed Finn. She just wanted him home, so she knew he was in the same vicinity as her. She wanted him close, so she could touch him and he could tell her that everything was going to be fine. She just wanted him.

She had this daydream, of how this would go. She would be at home, sleeping soundly in her bed with Finn beside her. The contractions would wake her, maybe even her water breaking. She would wake him up and he would take a bit of convincing but then they would get up, time her contractions and head to the hospital under the dark of night when it was time.

She knew enough about labor and delivery that she should have told herself it wouldn't happen like that. Cam's birth should have taught her that, what with going into labor at work, the being alone and all. But she had still built this fantasy in her mind and the fact that it already wasn't going along with her plan was already causing her to lose grip. She had to focus. She needed Finn. So she paced the upstairs hallway to pass the time with her hand pressed to the small of her back. What was taking him so long? The school wasn't that far from their house.

"Rach?" He had pulled his car into the driveway hastily and at the moment he couldn't even remember if he had hit the lock button. He had just wanted out of the car and into the house. He wanted to get to his wife. "Babe?"

"Up here!" He heard her strained voice and kicked off his shoes in a flurry before taking the stairs two at a time. He let out a sigh of relief when his eyes landed on her, although she looked less than thrilled at the moment. Her hair was piled high on her head and the long sleeved shirt that hung off her body is his, an old McKinley High Football one from high school. He had kept it as a memento, she had claimed it as pajamas a few weeks ago. Whatever made her happy.

"Hi baby," he whispered as he approached, placing his hand on her back as she hunched over. She sucked in a breath before righting her body and turning to Finn. She reached out to touch his cheek as she pulled her lip in her mouth. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. She instantly wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

"I'm so glad you're here."

He smiled gently. "I got here as quickly as I could. Had to confirm they could get a substitute before I left. It's a good thing I talked to Shelly last week..."

She groaned against his chest and sucked in a breath when she felt the familiar building pain of a contraction roll through her stomach.

"Okay, okay. It's okay. Breathe," he whispered into her ear as his hands glided down her to hips and held her. She clutched the material of his shirt in her hands as she let out a shuddered breath.

When the contraction ended, she pulled away from him slightly and looked up at him. He gave her a half smile and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You okay?"

She nodded as she leaned her head back on his chest. "For now..."

He ran his hand over her back a few times as she took a few deep breaths. "What can I do for you? If they're 8 minutes apart we can't go to the hospital just yet, right?" He was more talking to himself but smiled when he felt her nod against his chest.

"I want to lay down. I think," she bit her lip as she looked up at him. "Or take a shower...I don't really know what I want..."

Finn chuckled softly as he rubbed her back. "What would make you happy?"

"For this to go as quickly as possible. I just want to hold her," she ran her hands over her belly as she tried to decide what to do.

"I can't wait to hold her either," he whispered. "It'll happen soon enough. What about right this second? What can I do to help you?"

"Shower," she decided. "I want to take a shower. Help me,"

"You got it."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her into their bedroom, towards the bathroom.

She sat on the toilet as he got the shower going for her, cradling her bump in her hands. When it was ready, he turned towards her, just as another contraction started to rise. He was at her side before she could make a sound, clutching him to her as he rubbed her back.

When it ended, he helped her strip off the oversized shirt, pajama shorts and underwear she wore. He watched her as he helped her step into the hot stream of water, smiling when a contented sigh escaped her lips.

"You going to be okay for a few minutes?"

When she nodded, he turned to head back into the bedroom to change his clothes and grab a change of clothes for her.

When Finn left the room, Rachel let out a shuddered breath. The hot water beat down on her, soothing the achy muscles in her back as much as they could. She briefly wondered if she could just stay here forever. The water was doing wonders for her, but she knew her relaxation would be short lived. Her contractions had been coming almost exactly 8 minutes apart on the dot. Another one was just beginning as Finn appeared back in the bathroom. She let out a gasp and he was at her side in seconds, grabbing her hand as she closed her eyes and tried to remember how to blow out a breath.

He was determined to follow her lead. After he helped her get dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt he helped her walk down the stairs. He wasn't sure how much of a help he was being, but he felt relief warm his body every time she grabbed his hand when she had a contraction, and simultaneously felt the same when it ended. He knew his job was to time them, and as time crawled on and her contractions started to grow closer together and more intense he felt his palms start to sweat. Every single time her face scrunched in pain, every time she squeezed just a little bit harder he felt his anxiety rise. This was happening. Now was not the time to freak out, but he couldn't help but feel like his mind was going a million miles an hour. They were really doing this, they were really going to have a baby.

The phone rang sometime in late afternoon and he almost missed answering it as Rachel was in the throes of another contraction. When he got to it, he noticed it was his mother calling.

"Mom, hi," he sighed into the phone as Rachel continued to hold his hand. "Did you..."

"We got your message! We're on our way! We can grab Camden from Deanna's and..."

"We're still at home," he interrupted. He didn't want them to bring Camden to the house while they were still here. It was something they had decided when they made their birth plan. He wanted Rachel to be free to do or say whatever she needed to do as she rode her contractions, and she didn't want to scare Camden. So they'd made a plan, Deanna would take Camden until his parents could take over, unless it happened at night.

"How's it going?"

"We're okay, the contractions are starting to come closer together," he managed to get out as Rachel let out another groan.

Rachel winced as another contraction claimed her, sooner than she had anticipated. The intensity stole her breath as she squeezed Finn's hand. They were coming closer together and as she cinched her eyes shut she tried to remember to breathe through the pain. She could hear Finn talking, though at the moment she wasn't sure if he was talking to her or whoever was on the phone. But soon the sound of his voice was gone and she felt him use his free hand to push her hair back from her face.

"Rach?" he whispered when it was finally over.

"I think we should start getting ready to go," she whimpered as she slowly opened her eyes to look at him. His eyes were soft, the concern written all over his face, she could easily feel how much he loved her in just one look.

"You think so?"

She bit her lip as she looked up at him, nodding as her hands squeezed his. "I..." She bit her lip as she felt the pressure of another contraction surfaced.

"Breathe Rach," he whispered. "Breathe,"

It all happened in a blur from there. When the contraction ended, Finn ran to grab her shoes and coat to throw on over her clothes. He kissed the inside of her ankle as he slid her Uggs on her feet before looking up at her. She had her head reclined on the back of the couch, her hands circling her belly. He thought he could see tears pricking in the corners of her eyes and he felt his heart surge. He reached for her hands and tugged her up on her feet slowly. She sighed when she fell into his chest for a moment as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Let's go have a baby," he whispered.

She nodded and swallowed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and gently guided her towards the garage door.

Once they reached the hospital, any sense of calm that surrounded her was beginning to evaporate. She felt Finn squeezing her hand tightly in his as they walked slowly through the door, having to stop a few feet inside as a contraction took hold. But once they got to the desk it suddenly became so real.
They were having a baby. Sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning they were going to have their daughter with them, in their arms. The thought gave her anxiety and fear for a brief moment. Until she took a look at Finn. The excitement and concern that danced in his eyes soothed her as she rubbed the side of her stomach as he checked her in.

Flashbacks entered her mind as they were shown to their room, memories of the last time she was in this position caused her mind to cloud and her heart to race. Finn, sensing that something was bothering her took one look at her face and immediately put down the bag he was holding and approached her.

"It's not going to go like that," he whispered as he ran his hands up and down her arms. He was always good at being able to read her mind. It's one of the reasons she loved him so much. "I'm here, we're in this together and everything is going to be fine."

"Promise?" her lip trembled as the word left her mouth.

"Promise. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Alice, okay?"

"Okay," she smiled softly as he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers. In just one kiss, she could feel that everything was going to be just fine.

He watched helplessly from the sidelines as she was examined, the nurse proclaiming that she was officially five cm dilated and they would be allowed to stay. He watched the look of relief cross her face and felt the same come across his. He hadn't realized that even though they were here, they may not have been able to stay. When the nurse left she sat up more on the bed and opened her arms to him. He was there in an instant, wrapping her in a comforting hug. She nuzzled her head in his neck for a moment, taking a deep breath in to inhale his scent. When they pulled apart, he pecked her lips twice before pulling away. He left his hand on her belly, smiling as he ran his hand over the curve being careful of the monitor the nurse had strapped around her.

"Half way," she breathed. "If this is half way, maybe it won't be so bad..."

Wrong.
As the evening and her labor progressed, Rachel could feel her resolve and excitement slipping. She was exhausted as the night went on, she was tired of looking at the four walls of her room, but was in much too much agony to walk further than around her room. She took advantage of the single suite she had and walked around, Finn not far behind her. She hung on to him through her contractions, allowing him to brace her as they rolled through her closer together and for a longer period of time. He massaged her back when she wanted, fed her ice chips and wiped her forehead when she got too hot.

As another contraction came to an end, she blew out a breath as Finn massaged her hips.

"You're doing so well baby, so well..." he whispered into her ear. She could only nod before leaning her forearms on her bed.

"How long have we been here?" she mumbled against the mattress as his fingers dug into her hips. She winced when he hit a particular sore spot. "Ugh,"

"Sorry babe," he whispered. "Um, 3 hours? It's just after 8 babe."

"Ugh," she sighed as she grabbed for the blankets on the bed, curling them in her fingers as the pain seared through her.

"Breathe Rach, breathe..."

"I am breathing," she growled as she sunk her head into the mattress. He continued to massage her hips, varying between there and the small of her back. "Fuck, this sucks," she growled once more.

A knock on the door interrupted them before Finn could respond and he almost sighed in relief when he saw the night nurse, Brooke walk in.

"How're we doing in here?" she asked cheerfully as she approached the couple.

"I think we're doing okay," Finn whispered as he rubbed her back.

"Speak for yourself," Rachel groaned. She sucked in a breath. "This hurts so bad..."

"Well, pain could be a good sign," Brooke smiled. "Dr. Bartholomew sent me in here to check your progress. But I'm going to need you to get in bed for that."

Rachel shook her head. "I can't. There's too much pain when I lay in bed. It hurts my back too much..."

She smiled at her sympathetically.

"It's okay Rach..."

She glared at him as he helped her stand up, adjusting his stance to hold most of her weight. He helped her into bed being mindful of the fetal monitor and held her hand as Brooke sat between her legs. She sucked in a breath as the exam started, and Finn turned her head to look directly at him while placing a kiss on her fist.

"I love you," he whispered when she whimpered, the sound gradually getting louder the more uncomfortable the exam became. "You're so amazing and I love you so much,"

"8 cm." Brooke smiled as she snapped off her gloves. "It won't be too long now. You're progressing nicely. Baby should be here soon, she's nice and low."

It was all Rachel could do to just nod. Brooke left after writing in her chart as Rachel arched her back off the bed as a contraction started.

"Ugh..." Finn helped her roll onto her side, pressing the palm of his hand into the small of her back while she tightened her grip on his hand.

"She's going to be here soon," he whispered as she closed her eyes, softly humming as she fought another contraction. "Before tonight's over we're going to be holding our baby Rach. Isn't that amazing?"

She arched her back into him as she grimaced, clutching his hand. "It's okay baby, just breathe..."

When her features relaxed, he pressed a kiss to her forehead while her eyes remained closed. She blew a breath between her lips, sucking another one in through her nose as she felt another one build. They were coming fast, closer together and she could barely stand it.

The closer she got to delivery, the more pain she felt as the baby moved down and the pressure increased, the more scared she became. This was all going so well, so normal, she just felt like there was something that was destined to go wrong. The other shoe, so to speak was due to drop soon. She opened her eyes only to slam them shut again as an intense contraction ripped through her. She wanted to cry, but instead only a loud groan left her lips. The pain was intense and as the contraction continued, she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to do this.

"Finn?" she sighed once it ended.

"Yeah babe?"

"Promise me you'll still love her if she's not okay..."

"What?' His voice raised an octave and she looked at him intently. "Babe? She's fine..."

"You don't know that!"

He took her face in his hands as she opened her eyes for a minute. "Everything is fine. She's fine...everyone keeps telling us she's fine."

"But what if she isn't!" She shrieked as one contraction after another began to hit her.

"She will be babe, everything is fine. Everything is perfect. And I love you so much," he whispered into her ear when she let him get close enough.

Finn felt helpless. He had no idea what had brought those thoughts back. He tightened the grip on her hand as she writhed on the bed, fighting the contractions that were racking her body.

"It's okay Rach," he whispered as he applied the wet cloth to her forehead. "Everything is going to be just fine."

His heart broke when she sobbed when she finally had a moment to catch her breath.

"Finn," she groaned. "Finn, make it stop..."

His breath hitched as he looked at her, her face scrunched in pain. He could tell it was bad, he didn't need to look at the monitor to know that the contractions were coming faster and longer. All he had to do was look at Rachel's face. She had a death grip on his hand, and she had stopped talking. The only noises coming from her were grunts and some small whimpers as she succumbed to the pain her body was in.

He felt tears come to his eyes as he watched her. It broke his heart to watch her in pain, he could just tell that she was struggling to hold on and he felt so immensely proud of her and how she was handling it. It was all he could do not to break down and keep hold of her hand as he helped her through another contraction. He was so proud of her.

Time seemed to stand still for Rachel. After her water finally broke, the pain increased tenfold and she felt an unbearable pressure between her legs. It was like someone had gone over to the monitor and had cranked up the volume on her contractions from a 3 to a 10. She moaned as she felt the intense pain that she knew meant something was happening. Everything was amplified, everything hurt. She couldn't get her mouth to make anything other than assorted pain filled noises.

"I need to push," she groaned as she arched her back. She writhed on the bed trying to find a comfortable position, but really there was no such thing. Finn tried to hold it together as he held her hand, but the reality of the situation was beginning to wear him down, just as Brooke dashed out of the room in search of Dr. Bartholomew.

"Finn, do something. It hurts...I need her out...get her out!" she cried as she tried to move her legs on the bed. She seized her movements as the pain became too much to bear and she started to become hysterical.

"I know baby, just hold on, okay? It's okay..."

"It's not okay, it's not okay..." she cried. "Finn make it stop..."

"I'm sorry babe," he swallowed hard as the door swung open and Dr. Bartholomew flew in. "I'm so sorry..."

He looked helplessly towards the end of the bed where Dr. Bartholomew was rushing to get set up.

When Brooke had checked her, not only was Rachel ready to deliver, the baby was extremely low and causing all sorts of pressure. Finn's heart broke as he held Rachel's hand, fighting hard to help her resist the urge to push. Her face scrunched in pain as she closed her eyes trying to buck against the pain.

"Okay Rachel, grab your left knee and pull back. Finn, can you grab the other?" He nodded thickly and pulled her leg back just as she let out a painful cry.

"On my count Rachel, I want you to take a deep breath and put your chin to your chest and push okay?"

She nodded as she bit her lip as she stared at the doctor.

"Here comes a contraction, breathe in and push..."

Finn did his best to keep a hold on her knee and her hand at the same time. But the second she collapsed against the bed and cried hysterically, he felt himself losing it.

"We need to go again Rachel..."

"I can't do this," she cried as she shook her head. "It hurts too bad, I can't do this...I don't want to do this anymore..."

"On the next contraction you need to push Rachel. She can't come out if you don't push..." Dr. Bartholomew encouraged calmly as Rachel sobbed.

She screamed as she pushed. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire as she held her breath and bore down. She pushed again, and again and again. Everything burned and she felt like nothing was making it go away. She collapsed against the bed after pushing again and she couldn't keep her sobs to herself. She was tired; exhausted and she just wanted this to be over. She wanted to be done. But she wasn't close to being done.

"I want to be done," she cried as she felt another contraction surge."Finnn..."

"C'mon Rach, just go again..."

"I can't..." she fought against the urge as she looked up at him. "I can't..."

"You can babe, you can. You've made it this far and she's almost here. Just take my hand and let's meet our Alice. Don't you want to meet her?"

She nodded her head quickly.

"Time to push Rachel. Just a few more good ones and she'll be here."

Finn felt his stomach roll as he watched all the effort she was exerting. His heart both simultaneously felt like it was going to break and burst at the same time. It felt like forever, and he kept chanting encouraging words, trying to give her every bit of encouragement he could muster.

Rachel groaned after a particularly long and hard push, interrupted by Dr. Bartholomew.

"Here she comes, one big push and her head will be out...Finn, if you want to see..."

He swallowed hard as he looked from the doctor to Rachel. Even with her eyes clenched tightly she nodded, knowing he was looking at her. Without letting go of her leg or her hand he watched as Rachel pushed hard, squeezing his fingers. As he watched the scene unfold, he felt like the room was beginning to spin. It was both the single most beautiful thing and most disgusting thing in the entire world.

"She's beautiful," he whispered as she collapsed against the bed. He didn't dare blink as he watched Dr. Bartholomew wipe her face and nose before turning back to Rachel and pressing a grateful kiss to her lips. It was a second before the doctor was instructing Rachel to push once more.

She was in agony. But the second those words left Finn's lips her eyes shot open as she gasped.

"One more push Rachel and you'll have your baby... "

"You can do this babe, this is it..." Finn leaned over and placed a hard kiss on her lips before readjusting his hand under her knee and squeezing her hand.

In a blur of tears and one killer push that felt like it was destined to turn her inside out, it was over. Dr. Bartholomew held the squirming, screaming newborn up in the air so both Rachel and Finn could see her.

"Oh my God, hi baby," she cried as she began to sob. Alice let out a strong wail as she was placed on Rachel's stomach as a nurse moved in to wipe her down briskly. "Oh my Alice," she sobbed as she placed a shaking hand on the baby's back. "You're gorgeous. Isn't she beautiful Finn?" She tore her eyes away from the baby for a moment to look at Finn. Her heart swelled when she saw how emotional he was, it brought tears to her own eyes.

He couldn't contain the sob anymore, the tears spilled down his cheeks rapidly as the baby was placed on Rachel's stomach. It was a moment that would be ingrained in his mind forever. His heart was beating a million miles an hour as he placed his hand on her back as she continued to cry.

"I love you so much," he whispered with a thick voice. He pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips as the tears continued to roll down his cheeks. They both looked down at Alice as her wails began to taper as Rachel rubbed her back. "I love you so much," he repeated over and over."Thank you baby, thank you. I love you," he repeated over and over.

Alice was taken from them a moment later to be cleaned and weighed. Finn felt torn between staying at Rachel's side and comforting his daughter (his daughter!) who had began to wail in earnest.

"Go Finn," Rachel whispered as Dr. Bartholomew worked between her legs. It was breaking her heart to listen to her cry. "She needs you..." He kissed her quickly and did as she urged, making it across the room in under a minute to comfort Alice.

"8 pounds, 9 ounces." the nurse proudly stated as she swaddled the hysterical newborn. "She's gorgeous. Congratulations."

"Thanks," he whispered as she was handed to him. "Oh my God, you're so beautiful." Alice whimpered in his arms as he held her. His heart was going a million miles a minute, and as he looked down at her he felt all the breath leave his body. Her eyes were clinched shut as she yawned, her little fingers peeking out from under the blanket. He sniffed as he lifted her to meet his mouth as he pressed a kiss to her head before bringing her over to see Rachel.

Rachel watched from her bed as Finn held Alice gently in his arms. Her heart swelled as she yawned sleepily as Finn brought her over to her. He looked so perfect, so natural with the baby in his arms.

"And this is your Mommy," he whispered as he pressed another kiss to the baby's head. "And Mommy, this is your daughter..."

"Alice," she breathed as he lowered her into her arms. She ran her finger over the baby's nose, the nose that distinctly belonged to Finn. "You're finally here..."
Finn smiled as he leaned over, softly nuzzling his face into her shoulder. "She's perfect. Ten long fingers and ten tiny toes," he whispered into her ear. "And a head full of chocolate brown hair," he said with awe as he moved the tiny pink cap a little. "8 pounds, 9 ounces of perfection."

She smiled up at him with tears in her eyes before following his eyes back to the bundle in her arms. They sat quietly as they both stared down at the baby as she slept.

"She's a sleepy girl," Finn laughed, his eyes not leaving the baby. "God Rach, she looks so much like you."

She smiled gently as she zeroed in on the baby's features. But she didn't see herself, she saw her gorgeous husband. She was all Hudson, right down to the dimple in her cheek when she pursed her lips in her sleep.

A nurse came in sometime later, Finn was unsure how much time had actually passed. When he wasn't staring at Alice, he was staring at Rachel. He was so in awe of her, and he could just see on her face how happy she was.

"I have her birth certificate," the nurse smiled. "Do we have a name picked out?"

Rachel leaned back on the bed, clutching Alice to her chest as she smiled sleepily at Finn. He looked back at her and only turned to the nurse when Rachel nodded her silent agreement.

"Alice," he whispered as he turned back to the baby. He gently ran his finger over her plump cheek as she blew a soft breath through her lips."Alice Jayne Hudson."

The nurse smiled."That's beautiful."

"It was my wife's idea," he grinned as the nurse held out the form for him to fill out. After he scrawled his name with a practiced precision, he turned to hand it to Rachel. After a second, she moved the baby to her left arm as Finn held out the form for her.

A gasp escaped her lips as she read over the information after she signed it. The nurse smiled before leaving.

"What?" he asked softly.

"It's your birthday," she whispered." I'm sorry I ruined your birthday," she whispered as she looked back down at the baby.

"Ruined my birthday? Babe, this is...you've given me the best gift ever," he ran his finger over the baby's pink cheek.

"I'm never going to be able to top this," she sighed as a yawn escaped her lips. The exhaustion of the day was catching up with her.

"You'll never need to. Unless we knock you up again," he laughed. She shot him a glare. "I'm kidding..." he chuckled. But as it died down, he became more serious. "Thank you Rachel," he murmured.

"What..."

"For her," he whispered. "For my family. For my life."

She smiled warmly as tears surfaced in her eyes once more. "I couldn't imagine our life being any different," she whispered. "And it's because of you. I love you so much."
The baby sneezed in her sleep as she uncurled her fingers, just enough for Finn to get his finger in there. When her fingers closed around his, the sense of fatherly pride that overcame him moved him to tears once more.

"I love you too. All of you," he whispered as he swallowed hard. "So much."

But it was later that night, in the dark of night as he held Alice in his arms long after Rachel had fed her and fallen asleep herself that it really started to sink in. They just had a baby. He can't sleep, because he can't really believe that this is his life. He watches her intently as she sleeps, noticing her eyelashes that are long like her mom's fluttering against her cheeks and he just suddenly feels at peace. Everything is right in his world, everything in his life is good and perfect. And it's because of this little 8 pound bundle in his arms.
"You've picked the best family Alice Jayne. And I promise you, that I'm going to try to be the best father that I can be for you. You see, you're really my first chance at starting this from the beginning. Your big brother, who you'll meet tomorrow and already loves you so much, was 2 and a half when I reconnected with your Mama. He's the best thing that ever happened to me, just like you and especially like your Mom. But I just need you to be patient with me while I learn all this cause I have very little experience you know, changing diapers and burping. But Mama seems to think that I'll be fine, I just hope you think so too. I love you so much Alice, I cannot wait to see what sort of adventure you take us on. Just nothing too crazy, alright? Your Mama and brother keep me on my toes as it is. You'll see," he pressed a kiss to her forehead just as she yawned widely and opened her eyes to blink at him. "There's my beautiful girl," he smiled. She made a sound that to Finn sounded like a giggle, though he knew well enough that wasn't possible just yet. "I'm gonna love you forever kid."

THE END.

And once again, I thank you all for reading. 3